Second-wave feminism began in the 1940s as a reevaluation of women's role in society, reconciling the inferior treatment of women in society despite their ostensibly equal political status to men. Pioneered by theorists such as Simone de Beauvoir, second wave feminism was an important current within the social turmoil leading up to and following the May 1968 events in France. Political goals included the guarantee of increased bodily autonomy for women via increased access to abortion and birth control.

Third-wave feminism since the 2000s continues the legacy of the second wave while adding elements of postcolonial feminism, approaching women's rights in tandem with other ongoing discourses, particularly those surrounding racism.

In February 1793, Pauline Léon and Claire Lacombe created the exclusively-female Société des républicaines révolutionnaires (Society of Revolutionary Republicans—the final e in républicaines explicitly denoting Republican Women), which boasted two hundred members. Viewed by the historian Daniel Guérin as a sort of "feminist section of the Enragés",[1] they participated in the fall of the Girondins. Lacombe advocated giving weapons to women. However, the Society was outlawed by the revolutionary government in the following year.

The Bourbon Restoration re-established the prohibition of divorce in 1816. When the July Monarchy restricted the political rights of the majority of the population, the feminist struggle rejoined the Republican and Socialist struggle for a "Democratic and Social Republic," leading to the 1848 Revolution and the proclamation of the Second Republic. The 1848 Revolution became the occasion of a public expression of the feminist movement, who organized itself in various associations. Women's political activities led several of them to be proscribed as the other Forty-Eighters.

Famous figures such as Louise Michel, the "Red Virgin of Montmartre" who joined the National Guard and would later be sent to New Caledonia, symbolize the active participation of a small number of women in the insurrectionary events. A female battalion from the National Guard defended the Place Blanche during the repression.

Despite some cultural changes following World War I, which had resulted in women replacing the male workers who had gone to the front, they were known as the Années folles and their exuberance was restricted to a very small group of female elites. Victor Margueritte's La Garçonne (The Flapper, 1922), depicting an emancipated woman, was seen as scandalous and caused him to lose his Légion d'honneur.

During the Third Republic, the suffragettes movement championed the right to vote for women, but did not insist on the access of women to legislative and executive offices.[4] The suffragettes, however, did honour the achievements of foreign women in power by bringing attention to legislation passed under their influence concerning alcohol (such as Prohibition in the United States), regulation of prostitution, and protection of children's rights.[4]

Olga Petit, born Scheina Lea-Balachowsky and also referred to as Sonia Olga Balachowsky-Petit, became the first female lawyer in France on 6 December 1900.[5][6][7]

Marital power (puissance maritale) was abolished in 1938. However, the legal repeal of the specific doctrine of marital power does not necessarily grant married women the same legal rights as their husbands (or as unmarried women) as was notably the case in France, where the legal subordination of the wife (primarily coming from the Napoleonic Code) was gradually abolished with women obtaining full equality in marriage only in the 1980s.[8]

The Second Sex is a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism. It sets out a feminist existentialism which prescribes a moral revolution. As an existentialist, de Beauvoir accepted Jean-Paul Sartre's precept that existence precedes essence; hence "one is not born a woman, but becomes one". Her analysis focuses on the social construction of Woman as the Other, this de Beauvoir identifies as fundamental to women's oppression.[9] She argues that women have historically been considered deviant and abnormal, and contends that even Mary Wollstonecraft considered men to be the ideal toward which women should aspire. De Beauvoir argues that for feminism to move forward, this attitude must be set aside.[9]

Married French women obtained the right to work without their husband's consent in 1965.[10] The Neuwirth Law legalized birth control in 1967, but the relative executive decrees were blocked for a couple years by the conservative government.[11]

The paternal authority of a man over his family in France was ended in 1970 (before that parental responsibilities belonged solely to the father who made all legal decisions concerning the children).[12]

From 1970, the procedures for the use of the title "Mademoiselle" were challenged in France, particularly by feminist groups who wanted it banned. A circular from François Fillon, then Prime Minister, dated 21 February 2012, called for the deletion of the word "Mademoiselle" in all official documents. On 26 December 2012, the Council of State approved the deletion.[13]

In 1971, the feminist lawyer Gisèle Halimi founded the group Choisir ("To Choose"), to protect the women who had signed "Le Manifeste des 343 Salopes" (in English "Manifesto of the 343 Sluts" or alternately "Manifesto of the 343 Bitches"), written by Simone de Beauvoir. This provocative title became popular after Cabu's drawing on a satirical journal with the caption: « Who got those 343 whores pregnant? »); the women were admitting to have had illegal abortions, and therefore exposing themselves to judicial actions and prison sentences.[14] The Manifesto had been published in Le Nouvel Observateur on 5 April 1971. The Manifesto was the inspiration for a February 3, 1973, manifesto by 331 doctors declaring their support for abortion rights:

We want freedom of abortion. It is entirely the woman's decision. We reject any entity that forces her to defend herself, perpetuates an atmosphere of guilt, and allows underground abortions to persist ....[15]

Choisir had transformed into a clearly reformist body in 1972, and their campaign greatly influenced the passing of the law allowing contraception and abortion carried through by Simone Veil in 1975. The Veil Act was at the time hotly contested by Veil's own party, the conservative Union for French Democracy (UDF).

In the English-speaking world, the term "French feminism" refers to a branch of theories and philosophies by and about women that emerged in the 1970s to the 1990s. These ideas have run parallel to and sometimes in contradistinction to the political feminist movement in France but is often referred to as "French feminist theory," distinguished by an approach which is more philosophical and literary.[20] Its writings tend to be effusive and metaphorical being less concerned with political doctrine and generally focused on theories of "the body".[21]

In the 2000s, some feminist groups such as Ni putes, ni soumises (Neither Whores, Nor Submissives) denounced an increased influence of Islamic extremism in poor suburbs of large immigrant population, claiming they may be pressured into wearing veils, leaving school, and marrying early.[30] On the other hand, a "third wave" of the feminist movement arose, combining the issues of sexism and racism, protesting the perceived Islamophobic instrumentalization of feminism by the French Right.

After Ni Putes Ni Soumises activists were received by Prime Minister Jean Pierre Raffarin and their message incorporated into the official celebrations of Bastille Day 2003 in Paris, various left-wing authors (Sylvie Tissot,[31] Elsa Dorlin,[32]Étienne Balibar,[33] Houria Bouteldja,[34] etc.) as well as NGOs such as Les Blédardes (led by Bouteldja), criticized the racist stigmatization of immigrant populations, whose cultures are depicted as inherently sexist.

They claimed that Ni Putes Ni Soumises overshadowed the work of other feminist NGOs. After the nomination of its leader Fadela Amara to the government by Nicolas Sarkozy, Sylvie Tissot denounced a "state feminism"[31] (an instrumentalization of feminism by state authorities) while Bouteldja qualified the NGO as an Ideological State Apparatus (AIE).[34]

In January 2007, the collective of the Féministes indigènes launched a manifesto in honour of the Mulatress Solitude. The Mulatress Solitude was a heroine who fought with Louis Delgrès against the re-establishment of slavery (abolished during the French Revolution) by Napoleon.[35] The manifesto stated that "Western Feminism did not have the monopoly of resistance against masculine domination" and supported a mild form of separatism, refusing to allow others (males or whites) to speak in their names.[36]

A few women held public office in the 1930s, although they kept a low profile. In 1936, the new Prime Minister, Léon Blum, included three women in the Popular Front government: Cécile Brunschvicg, Suzanne Lacore and Irène Joliot-Curie.[4] The inclusion of women in the Popular Front government was unanimously appreciated: even the far-right candidate Xavier Vallat addressed his "congratulations" to Blum for this measure while the conservative newspaper Le Temps wrote, on 1 June 1936, that women could be ministers without previous authorizations from their husbands. Cécile Brunschvicg and Irène Joliot-Curie were both legally "under-age" as women.

Wars (both World War I and World War II) had seen the provisional emancipation of some, individual, women, but post-war periods signalled the return to conservative roles.[4] For instance, Lucie Aubrac, who was active in the French Resistance—a role highlighted by Gaullist myths—returned to private life after the war.[4] Thirty-three women were elected at the Liberation, but none entered the government, and the euphoria of the Liberation was quickly halted.[4]

The third woman to hold government office would be the Radical-Socialist Jacqueline Thome-Patenôtre, appointed undersecretary of Reconstruction and Lodging in Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury's cabinet in 1957. Nafissa Sid Cara then participated in the government as undersecretary in charge of Algeria from 1959 till the end of the war in 1962. Marie-Madeleine Dienesch, who evolved from Christian-Democracy to Gaullism (in 1966), occupied various offices as undersecretary between 1968 and 1974. Finally, Suzanne Ploux was undersecretary for the Minister of National Education in 1973 and 1974. In total, only seven women acceded to governmental offices between 1946 and 1974, and only one as minister.[4] Historians explain this rarity by underlining the specific context of the Trente Glorieuses (Thirty Glorious Years) and of the baby boom, leading to a strengthening of familialism and patriarchy.

Even left-wing cabinets abstained from nominating women: Pierre Mendès-France (advised by Colette Baudry) did not include any woman in his cabinet, neither did Guy Mollet, the secretary general of the SFIO, nor the centrist Antoine Pinay. Although the École nationale d'administration (ENA) elite administrative school (from which a lot of French politicians graduate) became gender-mixed in 1945, only 18 women graduated from it between 1946 and 1956 (compared to 706 men).[4]

Of the first eleven cabinets of the Fifth Republic, four did not count any women. In May 1968, the cabinet was exclusively male. This low representation of women was not, however, specific to France: West Germany's government did not include any women in any office from 1949 to 1961, and in 1974–1975, only 12 countries in the world had female ministers. The British government had exclusively male ministers.[4]

This new, relative feminisation of power was partly explained by Giscard's government's fears of being confronted with another May 1968 and the influence of the MLF: "We can therefore explain the birth of state feminism under the pressure of contest feminism [féminisme de contestation]", wrote Christine Bard. Although the far-left remained indifferent to the feminisation of power, in 1974, Arlette Laguiller became the first woman to present herself at a presidential election (for the Trotskyist party Workers' Struggle, LO), and integrated feminist propositions in her party. Giscard's achievements concerning the inclusion of women in government has been qualified by Françoise Giroud as his most important feat, while others, such as Evelyne Surrot, Benoîte Groult or the minister Monique Pelletier, denounced electoral "alibis". The sociologist Mariette Sineau underlined that Giscard included women only in the low-levels of the governmental hierarchy (state secretaries) and kept them in socio-educative affairs. Seven women in eighteen (from 1936 to 1981) had offices related to youth and education, and four (including two ministers) had offices related to health, reflecting a traditional gender division. The important Ministry of Finances, Defence, Foreign Affairs and Interior remained out of reach for women. Only six women in eighteen had been elected through universal suffrage. The rest were nominated by the Prime Minister. Hélène Missoffe was the only deputy to be named by Giscard.[4]

Left and right-wing female ministers signed the Manifeste des 10 in 1996 for equal representation of women in politics.[4] It was opposed by feminist historian and psychoanalyst Elisabeth Roudinesco, who believed the existing legislation was sufficient.

Joan Scott, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, stated: "There is a longstanding commitment to the notion that the French do gender relations differently — especially from prudish Americans — and that has to do with the French understanding of seduction. Seduction is the alternative to thinking about [sexual harassment] as sexual harassment."[38] Christine Bard, a professor at the University of Angers, echoed those thoughts, saying that there is an "idealization of seduction à la Française, and that anti-feminism has become almost part of the national identity" in France.[38]

In 1990, following a case where a man had tortured and raped his wife, the Court of Cassation authorized prosecution of spouses for rape or sexual assault. In 1992, the Court of Cassation convicted a man of the rape of his wife, stating that the presumption that spouses have consented to sexual acts that occur within marriage is only valid when the contrary is not proven.[39] Until 1994, France kept in the French Penal Code the article from 1810 that exonerated a rapist if they later married their victim, and in 1994 Law 94-89 criminalized all marital rape.

Sexual harassment in the workplace was made subject to legal sanction in France starting only in 1992. The reach of those laws was not matched by vigorous enforcement, labor lawyers say.[38] France's "reluctance to move more aggressively against sexual harassment reflects deeply rooted ideas about sexual relations and the relative power between men and women", said Scott.[38]

France outlawed street sexual harassment in 2018, passing a law declaring catcalling on streets and public transportation is subject to fines of up to €750, with more for more aggressive and physical behavior. The law also declared that sex between an adult and a person of 15 or under can be considered rape if the younger person is judged incompetent to give consent.[40][41] It also gives underage victims of rape an extra decade to file complaints, extending the deadline to 30 years from their turning 18.[41]

^Although marital power was abolished in France in 1938, married women in France obtained the right to work without their husbands' permission only in 1965, "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.Cite uses deprecated parameter |deadurl= (help)CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) and the paternal authority of a man over his family was ended in 1970 (before that parental responsibilities belonged solely to the father who made all legal decisions concerning the children). Furthermore, it was only in 1985 that a legal reform abolished the stipulation that the husband had the sole power to administer the children's property. [1]

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